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There's an unusual postscript to the recent news that federal regulators shut down Lutz-based Heritage Bank of Florida.
Indeed, several Gulf Coast bankers were surprised to learn the Tampa Tribune wrote about a confidential document regarding the potential sale of Heritage — six days before the deal. While it appears Heritage's fate was inevitable, the article was nonetheless a hot topic among several Gulf Coast bankers, who say a leak like this is unprecedented.
Conway, Ark.-based Centennial Bank, in an agreement announced Nov. 2., took over Heritage, which had branches in Tampa and Wesley Chapel, in addition to its Lutz headquarters. Centennial assumed Heritage's $222.5 million in deposits and about $193 million of the failed bank's assets, according to a Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. statement. A unit of Home BancShares, Centennial has nearly 40 Florida locations, including Port Charlotte and Marco Island, but this is its first foray into Hillsborough County.
The Oct. 26 Tribune story, meanwhile, detailed a marketing prospectus the FDIC prepared for Heritage. The story says the document offered potential buyers specific financial details of Heritage.
A bank's general financial data, to be sure, is public information. But hyper-specific documents like this, which essentially brand a bank a near-failure, are heavily guarded, multiple bankers tell Coffee Talk. That's because if word leaks regulators are shopping a troubled bank, there could be a run on deposits.
The FDIC, too, says these documents, by policy, are kept secure. “In order to get notice of a failing bank,” to make a bid, FDIC spokesman David Barr says, “you would have to sign a confidentiality agreement.”
Barr declined to talk specifically about Heritage, saying the agency wouldn't comment “on the validity” of the Tribune article. Heritage President and CEO Richard Adams didn't return calls seeking comment.
Several veteran local community bankers tell Coffee Talk they've never heard of a situation like this. One local executive says confidentiality signatures are required early to get details on a bid for a struggling bank. Another local banker says he suspects the “FDIC is fuming over this.”
The Heritage closure is the 48th FDIC bank shutdown nationwide in 2012. It's the eighth in Florida, and the first one on the Gulf Coast since July 20, when the Royal Palm Bank of Florida in Naples was shuttered.
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